Blue Lantern - Privatized Astronomy
by justahomeboy
Summary: Almost twenty years after the Justice League failed to stop the mysterious Tribunal from destroying all of Earth's heroes, Alison Stover is chosen as the first Blue Lantern since the fall. With the United States government preventing any new heroes from arising, how can she fulfill her destiny? And what will she do with the mysterious "heroes" that seem to be following her?


Everything starts with good intentions. Others might disagree with your methods, or with your endgame, but that's always how it's been with society. We always think we're doing the right thing. It's only after we look at the mess we've made that we're ready to admit we made a mistake.

**72 Hours After the Tribunal**

"I swear to God, you're almost there! Just push!" Bradley had absolutely no idea what he was saying. He was mostly just repeating after anything the doctor said, but seeing his wife strain and puff was driving him to do anything to make her feel better. "Baby, I can almost see the whole head, you're almost there!" Trish clamped his hand. "Really?"

"No," the doctor clarified, trying to avoid laughing at how dumbfounded Bradley was with the whole delivery "But I can see the head and it's about to come out. One big push and we can start taking this baby out of you. One last push!"

"You smug son of a bitch," Trish grasped Bradley's hand even stronger, "I swear to God once I get this thing out of –" Bradley was well-built man. He used to play some football in high school and even now regularly went to the gym, but he was never prepared for the intensity and pain that followed that "last push."

"Holy mother of God this hurts like hell!" Trish was holding onto Bradley's hand with such potency that Bradley would half-joke about how purple his hand got for years to come. Even so, it was now over. The baby was out, the delivery was over, and the only thing that would be an inconvenience to Trish would be the following months without alcohol. But still, that thought wouldn't even cross her mind for four hours until after her first post-birth argument with Bradley. He wrapped his arm around Trish and gazed at his daughter and, for a minute, when that baby opened her eyes for the first time, Trish and Bradley were able to forget about the past weeks. About the genocide, the death, and the destruction that they had just barely avoided. All that was left was their beautiful new family – one that years later they'd find out was the very first to have a child after the Tribunal.

A light blinked in deep jungle. Through the fallen trees, down a shallow trench at the base of a waterfall, a light began blinking. Left alone after the Tribunal, left for dead after the Tribunal, a light finally began blinking after weeks of blackness. The blinking light had been waiting for its moment, and as made its way through the trench, breaking through the remains of fallen trees, and out into orbit, it set its course to the destination it was waiting for.

"Jesus Christ, Bradley, she's been alive for almost three hours and you're already trying to kill her?" Trish had been talking to Bradley for every single second after they left the hospital, but she never took her eyes off their child. "You know, babies form their personalities very soon thereafter they were born. You want her to live her life with a general sadness because her dad clearly has no regard for her safety?" Bradley placed his hand on his wife's thigh. "Do you want her to live her life with an unnecessary and baseless grudge against her father because of all the silly things her mom says?" Finally letting her eyes off their child, Trish looked at her husband. "Just promise that this won't distract your driving." And as she laid her lips on her husband's cheek, her finger slowly began to creep up his arm. Finally plunging it into his side, Trish fell back into her seat, her smug smile overpowering her attempts at being coy. "Goddammit Trish, if our child grows with a general sadness let it be known that it was due to your reckless behavior during my dri-" And just like that, if there had ever been any doubt of her husband's ability to protect her and her daughter, it was immediately gone after his sudden stop.

"Holy fuck it's back, holy fuck it's back"

"Baby," Bradley unclipped his seatbelt, "We're okay. Take a deep breath and stay here. This isn't the same as the Tribunal. This isn't an attack" Bradley got off the car and closed the door. He drew a deep breath and prayed he was right. A couple of feet ahead of their car lied a small crater, smoke arising from the potential projectile someone might have shot at them.

"Jesus fuck Bradley don't get near it, my daughter will NOT lose her father already."

"Baby, it's not a weapon. I just want to make sure it's nothing dangerous." Bradley crept his way to the crater. He stopped. The blue light coming out of the small crevice whatever just landed had created should have worried him – what if it was the Tribunal? Where would he take his family? The nearest bunker was in Metropolis, which was forty-five minutes away. They were good for dead. Drawing in another breath, he approached the crater. _I mean, worst-case scenario we're gonna die anyways, right? Best-case scenario, this is some space object that the government will pay for. Right? _The government had released a nationwide search for any residue that the Tribunal might have left behind after leaving Earth just the day before. In attempts to learn of their enemy, any and all objects proven to be from outer space would be of worth to the American government. _What the hell?_

Rising from the crater was a blue light. Baffled, Bradley stretched his arm out, but before he could reach it, it began floating towards the car. He knew he should've been worried, but there was something about the light, something reassuring, something that Bradley just knew was harmless. He slowly followed the light as it approached the car and watched it creep inside through the passenger side's open window. Trish was equally dumbfounded, just admiring at the light. Directly in her eye line, the light dissipated until it was no more. In its place was a round object. An insignia on its side faced Trish. She reached for it, entranced by the whole event she just witnessed, but just as it did with Bradley, the object avoided her, lowering itself until it landed on her daughter's chest.

"What the hell was that?" Bradley whispered, looking in from the outside of the car. "I don't know," Trish picked the mysterious object. Upon recognizing what it was, Trish dropped it and got out of the car. "It's a fucking ring, Brad. That's a fucking ring" Bradley set his reassuring arm on her shoulder, "Baby, what do you mean? Why would it be a ring?" Trish shook her shoulder away from Bradley and held her child as close to her chest as she could. "It's one of those Green Lantern rings, Brad. We're fucked, if the government finds out- we're so fucked." Bradley held his wife, "Baby, I'm sorry, but I don't understand. I thought the Green Lanterns were space cops. They've all been wiped out, right? Why would this be our problem? If we hand it over to the government they'll pay us for this coincidence."

"That's the problem, Brad. This isn't a coincidence. The rings don't just fall on someone's lap. It chose her. The ring chose her."

"But she's a newborn, she can't even walk yet, what would it want from her?"

"I don't know, Brad, but if we hand this to the government they're going to take her from us too. "

"Baby, maybe they can protect us if we tell them. They will understand, we didn't choose any of this!"

Trish shook her way out of Bradley's embrace. "That's not how this works. We're not going to turn it in. We're not letting them know our child is some sort of cosmic messiah. We're not going to ensure our daughter's death before she even lives a full day." Bradley stood there, expressionless. "Baby, I'm sorry. I wish I knew what to do." Trish sunk her head into his chest. "No one can know about this, Brad. We need to hide this ring and make sure that no one finds out." Bradley stroked his wife's hair. He always had something to say to her. He always knew exactly what to say to ease his wife's mind, but this time everything fell blank. For the next months, Trish and Brad lived in paranoia. They avoided going out, avoided any and all police officers. They even let someone get away after t-boning them on a trip to Metropolis. Soon, the months became a year, and soon Ali was asking them for permission to watch a PG-13 movie. Any old ruins of the life before the Tribunal were destroyed and brand new buildings were built. Society was finally getting back on its feet. Eventually, Trish and Bradley stopped praying every night for a normal life, because they had been given it, and in a few months Ali would graduate and move onto college in Metropolis.

"Hello?"  
Sipping iced coffee in between sentences, a man sat alone in Metropolis Café, "Yes, I believe she is to move-in almost four months from now." He moved a paper on his table to give the iced coffee a spot to set down. "Great, what about the others?" The man took a longer sip as his eyes followed a blonde woman in a brown trench coat walk across the street. "I believe I may have found someone, but I'm going to need to confirm they are who I believe them to be before I make the call." "Well, I have all the time in the world, J'onn," the voice at the end of the line chuckled, "You know, after all the scary movies I'd seen, I never would've thought that two brothers would be the only survivors after the apocalypse," J'onn looked at his hands. He had taken this human form for so long that he almost had forgotten what he really looked like. "Let me know what you find out, I'll try to stay put." The line went off, and J'onn kept watching the blonde woman walk until she entered a building a couple blocks away. Looking back down at his table, he reread the paper that was sitting on the table for the third time. This was what he was waiting for.

_Congratulations, Alison! You've been accepted to Metropolis State University! Attached you will find …_

J'onn set the paper down. _Maybe,_ he thought, _she is exactly what we're looking for._

**RISE BLUE LANTERN**


End file.
